M Cafe and Bar, Bar di Bari aim for June 15 opening

Two of the restaurants that will add to 14th Street’s emerging “really little Italy” are planning for mid-June openings, their owners told me this week.

Bar di Bari, the European cafe and restaurant from Red Velvet, Drafting Table and Fat Shorty’s owner Aaron Gordon, should be open by June 15 at 14th and R streets NW, Gordon said. (Bar di Bari won’t be slowed by his troubles this week with exhaust vents and excessive doughnut smell at his other spot, Zeke’s Donuts.)

The small restaurant will have 27 seats inside and about 50 on the patio. Gordon envisions it as a neighborhood spot where guests can have a glass of wine and a little antipasti, a cup of coffee or a hearty Southern Italian meal.

Practically across the street, at 1634 14th St. NW, Iraklis Karabassis will resurrect his M Cafe & Bar, which closed in 2011 in Chevy Chase. The restaurant will have a stylish, artistic decor and combine the European menu of M Cafe with its now defunct sister restaurant, Famoso, for a Northern Italian menu.